Bad karma and the results

Bad Karma and the results

It's been a pretty eventful past couple of days.  So I have running water, three months of the year, when it rains enough to fill the tank.  We have not had running water since August, though we have had some rain (this will be explained later).  I apparently had left my tap on this weekend, though in my defense there was no reason why this would have brought up a red flag for me.  I come to my house on Sunday and my house is flooded.  Half of my living room, half of my bedroom and my whole kitchen is covered in water.  It turns out Tanzania baba had turned off the water for our building, so main baba had water.  This means that Tanzania baba did not have to manually fill the tank.  I do not mind pulling my water so this was not an issue, but it explained how I never had water even when the tank was full.  At least I do not have to mop my floors for awhile.  Things are not so bad.

Sunday night my gas jiko (small, small propane tank that I cook on) goes out, mid meal. No biggie, I borrow Meredith's.  I go into Oyugis, my market town, and buy a new one.  Gas is cheap right now, it cost me 1250 KSH (about $11), plus the 140 KSH it takes to get to Oyugis.  I get home and want to warm up my leftovers.  The burner will not screw into the tank.  Crap.  So I go back to Oyugis, another 140 KSH.  I bring it back home.  It does not work.  And it is too late to go to Oyugis.  Well this sucks but it is not the end of the world.

Monday night the power goes out, which is not unusual, if it rains the power goes out for a bit.  I use my computer until it gets down to 2% power.  Just as I am about to go to bed the power comes back on.  I briefly consider plugging my computer in while I sleep.  Probably the only good thing that had happened in these two days was the fact that I did NOT plug it in.  About an hour later the transformer blows up, causing loud sounds and bright lights.  Things are a little shady now.

Today I took a cold bucket bath and decided to go back to Oyugis.  Thankfully the voice of reason, ed volunteer MR, suggested I call them to make sure they were open.  I finally got a hold of someone and they said no, the place does not open until 9 AM.  I had to be in Kisumu at 11:30, so this was not an option.  I have been assured that I can, yet again, exchange my non-working tank for a working one.  Giving this is Kenya, I do not have my hopes up, but I will not go down without a fight.

So today I, as well as 8 other volunteers, had a lunch date with the new US Ambassador to Kenya.  It was held at the CDC compound in Kisumu, which is a pretty awesome compound.  The lunch was great, it was a great combo of volunteers and meeting with the ambassador was great.  He was a great guy and was interested in our work, our opinions and our thoughts.  It was also great that he spent most of his time with us.  Things are starting to look up, maybe the world is not against me.

On my way home, I see a double rainbow.  It's awesome.  I also learn that the power is back on.  Even better.  I get home without incident.  That is until I look for my Nalgene.  I left it in the matatu.  Damn you Karma!!!  

So my number one wish list item is a new Nalgene bottle.

So things look like they might be getting better, but who knows.  TIA.

for some good websites to check out, go to the following:

1) Mr. Burns is a ed volunteer here in Kenya.   He's awesome and is a great person.  Lots of the cartoons he makes is a pretty good representation of things I go through/feel/see.  Check out his stuff.

http://truestorykenya.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2012-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2013-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=41

2)  What should Peace Corps call me?  This site is pretty right on to issues that any PC volunteer faces and goes through. 

http://whatshouldpcvscallme.tumblr.com/

3)  What should Africa call me?  I am pretty sure this person is from East AFrica probably either Kenya or Tanzania based off of the language.  It again rings true to my stay here.

http://whatshouldafricacallme.tumblr.com/

Finding me a husband

"Ing'eyo dhluo?"

"Ang'eyo matin"

"You are not a real white person."

(looking at my arm) "Really, why?"

"You know dhluo, you are Kenyan."

"Thank you."

"I'm not a millionaire, I do not have money.  I want you to marry me."

"Listen Victor, I can barely afford to take this matatu to town.  20 ksh (about 20 cents) is too much."

"That is fine, we will still get married.  You can raise my goats."

"Goats are bad.  My dad requires a dowry of one elephant, one hippo and 13 very small giraffes."

"I will find."

This was my conversation with the matatu conductor today on my way back from "work."  If I wake up tomorrow and there is a hippo, an elephant and 13 teacup giraffes sitting on my front stoop, you'll have a wedding to come to.  

I've been trying to spend more time learning dhluo (the mother tongue mainly spoken in my area), it's getting better but there are always issues.  First, many people want to speak to me in english, they want to practice.  Second, I often will get yelled at by people who do not speak dhluo, and yell at me about assuming they know it (you are in Luoland.  It's a reasonable assumption).  Third, I visit other PCVs in the area and they are so much better than me that I get intimidated.  It's going well.  Another issue is, my kiswahili is falling by the wayside which I do not like.

Work is going well.  We're in the middle of planning our support day for the orphans, widows and widowers in the community.  I have been walking a lot trying to meet with ministry officials, community leaders, NGOs and such trying to drum up support and trainers.  The community has been pretty receptive which is great, my groups are trying to grow the support day to include more beneficiaries and trainings.  

It looks like in the next month we should have the resource center proposal done and hopefully will start construction on that shortly after.  Another project I am planning on starting with my PCV ed volunteer, a day camp for children in our village is in the planning phases.  We hope to make it a monthly adventure, fun, games and education.  

I have been traveling a lot here lately, though it's mainly been PC related issues.  Mid service medical, cross sector, consolidation exercise.  It's been tiring but it's been great.  For medical and x sector I got to see a lot of people I rarely see and eat some non-Kenyan food.  Consolidation was great as it was everyone who lives in Nyanza, plus a couple of wannabes (hehehe). It's a cool group of people and I enjoyed hanging out with most everyone.  

Other than that my days are the same.  Teaching the two year old new English words, debating on what to eat and working on my projects.  

Still have not tried omena.  Have not seen any rats in awhile, which makes me more nervous than relieved.  PC Ed, woke up with a rat on her chest.  This does not bode well.

One last conversation.

"Do you have a Kenyan husband?"

"No, I do not have a husband here in Kenya."

"Do you have a husband in the Netherlands (writers note: everyone assumes this is where I am from.  Apparently there are a lot of expats in the area, though I rarely see them)."

"One of my husbands is from there."

"How many do you have?"

"Five"

"That is a lot of husbands, you do not need anymore."

Find though that she be little, she is fierce

Rawr. That's me being fierce. Okay, so in many ways I have not been fierce lately. My rat saga, sadly did not end. I probably am not fierce enough to deal with it, but I am smart enough to let things lie. It has not eaten any more of my food, nor has it tried to eat the plastic bucket that holds my food. It has eaten the rim off of my 75 liter water tank. I think it might be suicidal, that is the only explanation I have for why it would try to get in my water tank and not my food tank. I still hear mice as well, usually I hear them chewing something when I am trying to sleep. I just lay there and hope it is not my clothes. My friend Jill has been fierce. She has had a major rat problem, I can not complain about rats after hearing what she has gone through. She had rats living in her couch and openly flaunting their ratness. She bought some poison and killed those little buggers. Sadly they crawled into her couch to die. So, without power and after reading a dracula book, she opened up her couch and dug them out. My hat goes off to her. It was another Nanyuki weekend. I small girls weekend to help celebrate my birthday. It was fun, good food, good friends and good drinks. The only thing that stinks about Nanyuki weekends is the travel. To get there from my house it is an 11 hour journey each way. And it's not a smooth road. Take a dirt road, wash out at least 90% of it to create pot holes the size of Rhode Island and craters then make sure it doesn't rain so that there is plenty of dust. On the way back to my house I was sitting next to the window, my preferred seat since I can open the window and not vomit. Let me add that the majority of Kenyans I have contact with find 80 degrees to be cold, so they never open the windows and always have on jackets and knit hats on. I am always sweating. So I am sitting there, it's hot so I have the window cracked open at most 2 inches. The woman in front of me (IN FRONT OF ME) does not like this, so we battle each other for a bit before she turns around. Her: "This van is for Africans, people who really need it. You should take a taxi like the rest of you." Me: "What? I am not a tourist, I live here. In fact I am a volunteer, so unless you want to give me money to take a taxi I can not afford it." Her: "I will get sick, will you pay my hospital bill?" Me: "If I get sick at some point in my life will you pay mine?" She turns around for 15 minutes. Then turns around and starts craning her neck to look at Jill who is sitting behind me. Her: "Your sister is comfortable without her window open." Me: "I am not her, I am very hot and the window is only open a small bit." Her: "You will get me sick" Me: "You can not get sick from fresh air, and I have shut it when it gets to dusty. You are not yelling at anyone else in the van who has their windows open. Why?" That was the last of the conversation, I got to keep the window cracked open (except when it was dusty) and she gave me the evil eye the rest of the journey. Everyone wins. The trip was not all bad though, they took us past some animal preserve that they do not normally drive past. I was able to see some rhino and water buffalo which means I just need to see a cheetah to complete Kenya's big five (water buffalo, rhinos, elephants, lions). We also saw giraffes, gazelles and zebras. It never gets old, seeing all of this wildlife. I still can not believe that they are just roaming around and not locked up in some zoo. Here is a picture from my classroom at the local primary school. Here are some of the girls in my class, they were thrilled to get their picture taken. Though standing still in one spot is hard for them to do. If I took a step back in order to get everyone in the shot, they would all take a step towards me.

Been a long time gone

One year in Kenya. It feels like just yesterday and a million years ago since I came here. We got our goats! As well as the largest chickens I have ever seen, at least here. They weighed about 10 pounds each. Everyone was happy. I even got a goat named after me. Apparently Cory is a popular name for livestock right now. My health club at the primary school is going well. We're discussing hygiene right now, everything from washing hands, food storage, teeth brushing and environmental personal health. I have discovered that if I bribe them with stickers they appear more eager to participate/volunteer in the class. I've also discovered another use for the fake blood I brought. (Yes I brought fake blood. Laugh all you want but who will you come to for Halloween if you need to make your zombie/vampire/mob justice victim look real). I've used it as paint to demonstrate how flies transmit disease. I've been doing a lot of traveling in the past month, last weekend alone in a span of 4 days I spent a whopping 31 hours on a bus. I went up to Nanyuki and Maua to visit friends and to participate in a murder mystery party. Everyone can relax, I didn't kill anyone. Though we did meet someone while up there who had just been arrested for murder (he was released until his trial). Needless to say, we tried to avoid him. Here are some pictures This is an oldie, from last December when we (RUWONET) held our support day for the orphans and widows in the community. My ceramic jiko mama's (and my counterpart) after completing our tree nursery This is part of my group, the chief and their goats

Rats

I've been living in a minor state of fear for the past day and a half. It feels like I'm in a horror movie, where I know my house is haunted and at some point I will wake up to the horrible monster staring at me from the side of my bed. But instead of a haunted house and a monster, it's a rat. I woke up yesterday to find that half a loaf of my newly bought bread was eaten, by what I assumed was a mouse. I had a mouse in my house in December before I vanquished it. Later in the afternoon I hear a noise in my kitchen. I go to my kitchen door and there, sitting in my sink is a rat. Kenya's version of Godzilla, a huge mutant rat. A rat the size of a St. Bernard and resembling Rattigan from "The Great Mouse Detective." (I might exaggerate, Imagination might have distorted what this rat actually looks like. It was probably more the size of a Boston Terrier). It was huge and looked like it could take on, not only a cat, but a car. I, appropriately, yelled "Ahhh, huge rat!" It jumped on the window sill and went around the wall (a wall divides the window, half of it is in my kitchen the other half of the window is in my bedroom) and into my bedroom. Things just got worse. I run into my bedroom, push aside the curtain and for a second I think it's gone. Then I see it's beady little eyes. It's holding on to the bottom of the window like some rock climber. I yell again and it disappears. I quickly close the window. I run outside and tell Mama Mary (Tanzania mama) about my harrowing adventure. We cautiously poke our heads around the side of the building to see if it is still around. It's standing on the wall, head facing the ground. Completely vertical. Great, Super Rat; able to climb tall buildings in a single bound. I grab a jambe (a hoe of sorts) and she grabs a stick. I would like to say I gave a moving speech like in Braveheart, but I don't have quite the swahili vocabulary to pull that off. Instead, we raised our weapons and attacked. The rat got away. So fast forward to this morning. I hear something in my kitchen. I see no rat and my windows have been closed all night. Now rats are pretty amazing, they can fit in small spaces, eat through concrete. So I know it could still get in. Plus there is a chimney in my house where a jiko should go (not currently used as the place is too small and carbon monoxide would kill me). I think nothing of it. I have a meeting this morning and afterwards I go back into my house and I hear it again. So I head outside and grab some sticks. My group is still outside doing their table banking so I get a lot of weird looks. I normally get a lot of weird looks, but this time I can understand why. I'm carrying two big sticks. I tell them "Panya kubwa" (big rat) and show them with my hands. Mama D tells me to take Jeff to kill the rat. I move some plastic bottles and sacks that I store underneath the chimney and there it is. Now it runs into my living room, we chase it. I see my bedroom door is open a bit so I think "I need to close that." The rat is one step ahead of me and dashes under my bed. This is not what I want, at all. So we run into my bedroom. It's under my bed, I'm on top of my bed, Jeff is on his hands and knees wildly stabbing under my bed with a stick. Luckily we scared it enough where it climbs up my curtains and on to the windowsill and runs into the kitchen. It tries to jump back up the chimney, but Jeff kills it. I run outside, arms raised in victory. The mama's cheered. Baby Mary kept repeating "Panya Kubwa agopa" (scared of big rat). Me too, Mary. Me too.

I believed I could fly

Getting away from site is easy. It's coming back from site that is the hardest. Especially with the last weekend. I went over to Jinja,Uganda with about 19 other volunteers. I knew it was going to be great, I just did not realize how awesome it would be. It's always good to get away and get together with some Peace Corps peeps.

I met up with some PCVs in Kisumu to make the trip over. I was traveling with a certain girl, E, who is my personal bad luck travel charm. Anytime I travel with her, things never work out. But it always makes for an interesting trip. The 5 hour trip to Jinja ended up taking about 8 hours. We finally get to Adrift and can finally chill out. Though due to an incident on the road I was a bit banged up and worse for wear. Nothing that Nile Special couldn't take care of. This beer is made with water from the Nile. Little did I know I would be drinking plenty of the Nile the next day. The beer tasted way better.



So on Saturday we rafted the Nile. Not floated, not canoed. We rafted the freakin' Nile. We met our guide Camo, whose name is not Camel despite the fact that my boat called him this for the first 15 minutes. I'm sure he loved us, despite the fact that he spent a good deal yelling at us to keep paddling (we would stop paddling anytime someone would talk, which was pretty much constant. Needless to say all of the other rafts went down the rapids five minutes before we even got to them.) Whether it was a passive-aggressive decision to kill us or he listened to our pleas to make this an epic trip, Camo agreed to take us on a Level 5 rapid. It was epic. Screw that it was EPIC!!!! We hit the first part of the rapid, I slam to the other side of the raft, taking out the girl who had previously been sitting there. The following are the three thoughts I had, in three seconds.

First thought: How am I still in the boat? (I might have had some curse words, but I'm keeping it PG)
Second thought: (I hear Camo state "Oh s**t she's in a bad place.") Hey there is Sarah!
Third thought: Oh crap (not real word), I'm about to die.

Well did not die, but I did fly. (Ha, rhymed) I am now under the rapids doing my best aquatic acrobatic routine. I had no idea which way was up. Finally I stop doing somersaults and let myself float up to the surface. I see no one, I see no boat. A second later I feel the boat when it hits my head. I duck back under water and let the boat pass me overhead. Camo comes, flips the boat and pulls me in. It took about 5 minutes for the kayakers to wrangle up the rest of my boat companions (we were scattered like dust in the wind).



It was awesome, while it was definitely scary it was the most fun I have ever had on the water (and in the water). The Nile is not the lazy river that people might think it is.

So Saturday did not kill me. So I decided to take it to the next level on Sunday. I bungee jumped, 45 meters above the Nile. I wasn't nervous before, but climbing the stairs and watching 5 others jump before me caused me to be as nervous as a loose woman in church. I get my ankles tied together am an told to bunny hop to a blue rope. After the blue rope they wanted me to scooch my feet to the edge of the platform, while not looking down. As an experiment go to a top step, close your eyes and scoot your feet to where your toes are sticking out. Without peeking, scary isn't it? Nothing about this is natural. The human body is not meant for this. I don't look down, at the suggestion of the british guy trying to push me off the platform. He asks me if I am ready. I say "No, give me a couple of seconds." Apparently he took this to mean that three seconds would suffice for me to collect my nerves. He counts down, and like Pavlov's dogs I have a natural reflex to someone counting down. Which is apparently to jump. This worries me that anytime someone counts down from three I will just jump. I don't really remember the initial jump, the only thought I had was "Wait, what? I just jumped? What was I thinking?" Coming back up I had time to realize what I had just done.

Later that day I went on an unofficial booze cruise down to the mouth of the Nile, where it meets Lake Victoria. I say unofficial booze cruise because this is what we called it, not what Gavin (who managed Adrift) called it. Once I get to Kisumu I will try to upload the video of my jumpint

It was awesome! A great weekend, with great people. Sadly it had to end, though not for my bank account. So contributions to my bank account is always welcomed.



Getting back to work has been hard. I am setting up a World Malaria Day in my community. While it definitely has been time consuming, it has been worth it so far. For those of you not aware, Malaria is a huge killer in Africa. 90% of all Malaria deaths occur in Africa. I will be doing a whole blog about this later this week.

Cory, Vampire Slayer

Well….

So I have been busy. I went out to coast for the holidays, had a pretty good time. It is definitely a beautiful place and I loved hanging out near the ocean. The tide pools were definitely really awesome, we found Nemo, starfish, a sharks tooth and about five billion sea urchins. Luckily I practice safety first and did not have the joy of stepping on one. Unlike Sarah, but bad luck was apparently on her side as she managed to get jiggers and malaria while there. She took one for the team. While I enjoyed myself I did not enjoy the weather. I have experience 100% humidity in 90+ degree weather, it's called July in Arkansas. No thank you, beach and all I would rather just visit.

Work has really picked up. All of my groups have decided to undertake further IGAs and projects. Besides my ceramic jikos, yogurt, catering and farming. I am now helping to set up numerous other empires. So this means I am rushing to educate myself on poultry farming, goat farming, tree nurseries and paper beads.
Watch out Tyson, I'm going to take over.

I've also been doing trainings with area groups on nutrition, sack gardening and nutrition gardening. My trainings focus on child health and nutrition for people living with HIV/AIDS. I try to do demonstrations to help showcase how easy it is to grow and eat nutritious foods (not ugali). For the most part it seems relatively well received, though I have my doubters and finicky eaters. But you get those everywhere.

I spent today working with my goat/yogurt group build different types of gardens. A trainer with Heifer Project came to instruct. It was pretty good. Though I do have one complaint, and it comes up quite often with me here. No it's not the inability of people to keep time (you come to the meeting 2 hours late? All of you? No problem), I have gotten used to that. I have books. It's pretty much their opinion that I can not do anything, can not do anything for an extended period of time and tire easy. This means they often refuse to let me do a lot. Which brings out my stubborn side. So I throw myself in to the mix, even if it means I am sunburned, exhausted and have tons of blisters. I don't always choose the pain route, take today. My attempts at tilling the earth were cut short by the mama's refusing to let me handle any of the shovels or hoes. I was allowed to wield the machete to cut stakes. I made about 50 stakes, we only used 10. I can only assume the mama's are training me for some upcoming vampire invasion.

I like big butts...

I had to go to the Division Officers office today, to get some more information for my CNA and to invite them to my groups Support Day. Getting there is a pain in the butt and I try to avoid it if I can. It's way out there, matatu's do not go out there and if it rains at any point in the previous three days it is muddier than a pigs sty. Oh, it rained yesterday. A lot. It takes about an hour and a half to walk there from my house, if I walk fast and do not have to stop and greet people. I was going to meet one of the mama's, B, there at 10. I got there at 10:05. She got on to me for being late. Let me rephrase this, a Kenyan mama just got on me for being late. Five minutes late. Pot-Kettle and all. I wanted to point out that I had walked and she rode a pikipiki (motorcycle), but decided to just suck it up. So of course we get there and wait for an hour to meet with anyone. Once we were done we headed back. Because I have horrible timing, it was lunch time for the kids so they were out in droves. There were three boys along side the road. I hear one say "Habari yako." (What is the news, or how are you) and I hear another one say something else but I did not quite make out what he said. All of the sudden Mama B starts yelling at the boys, asking why are they not learning proper english and if they are why are they using rude and bad language. A mama (theirs I assume) comes out and asks what happened, mama B says some stuff in dhluo and the other woman yells something.

We get about five feet and my curiosity can take no more. I ask Mama B to tell me what the kids had said. At first she was reluctant, she said it was so bad she did not want to repeat it. She told me that the woman was apologizing and was really sorry for what the boys had said (this means they probably got a beating today about this.) I talked her into telling me. Apparently one of the boys yelled that I had a…wait for it…."small butt." I don't think I am offended by this. Though apparently I should be, at least judging by the reaction and response of the mama's. Which leads me to believe that they are aware of it (it being my small butt, though I think the word small needs to be taken into context. Kenyan women have awesome butts and small would not be a word to describe them) and assume I am self-conscious about my lack of booty and have been offended. This still tickles me.

My baba's cat had kittens, 3 of them. At least originally. She ate one. Now this same thing happened during training, but that time the mama cat ate all three of her kittens (I never saw my host Mama that upset before). Now I know why this happens and intellectually I understand it (Mama cat is not getting fed enough), but it still gives me the heevie jeevies. On a side note, I do want to keep one of the (surviving) kittens as my own. I'm down to three possible names: Gargamel (if it is a girl), Severus (if it is a boy) or Dr. Evil Whiskers.

Climb every mountain, cross no sea

I wish I could say I've been too busy to post anything on this blog. I haven't. But I am now, so no complaining.

I have had a wild past two months. My groups are organizing a support day for the orphans, widows and widowers in the community. They help provide food, clothing, school fees and other items to assist. It also means a lot of meetings. For those who are not aware of how meetings work here in Kenya (and Africa as a whole), here is a breakdown:

Meeting is scheduled for 10 AM
I arrive at 9:45 AM, walk through town and greet everyone who makes eye contact. Inform the same three pikipiki (motorcycle) drivers that I am not interested in marrying them today, but tomorrow? Who knows. Arrive at Jiko la Jamii (my yogurt group) and greet Mama Risper.
9:50-have a discussion with Mama Risper about why I am not eating mandazi (awesomely addictive fried dough) and chai.
10:00-play a little snake on my phone
10:05-10:30-make faces at all the kids that stop and gawk at me. Discuss past and future travel plans with Mama Risper
10:30-10:45-stare off in space
10:45-11:00-wander over to the VCT to talk with Dr. Abebe
11:00-11:30-return to Jiko La Jamii and help package the yogurt
11:30-the first mama arrives for the meeting.
12:00-meeting starts (if it is a good day)

So I spend more time waiting for meetings. TIA. But it gives me time to talk to people which is great and Mama Risper usually gives me a lot of yogurt to snack on. So, yahtzee.

I've finished my community needs assessment and there are a couple of programs/projects that I would really like to start here. One is a resource center for youth. Lots of the youth can not afford to go past, what we in America would consider, 8th grade. It would be great to start a program that allows them to receive training of some kind after this if they are not able to afford more school. Another project that I would like to work with is water sanitation and hygiene. These are two areas that I think would really assist the community. Next week I am meeting with some NGOs in the area to see what projects they are working on. This is all in my head for now, so who knows what the future brings.

I took a trip to Kisumu for Halloween, in engage in some good food, good friends and fake blood. Yes, I got to use my fake blood. My friend Sarah and I went as mob justice. She was the mob, I was the victim. We met up with a bunch of other PCVs at an NGO crash pad for the party. Good times.

After two weeks of being at site, I needed to get out. So last weekend I took a trip down to Sori (look at a map of Kenya and go as far west and south as you can before getting to Uganda or Tanzania and this is where I went) to visit my friends Elise, Molly, Brennan and Chris. From Elise's house you can see Lake Victoria. We sat on her porch Friday night enjoying some good wine and watching the omena fishermen come out. The lights from their boats dance across the water, making it look like christmas tree lights slowly bobbing along. It was so relaxing and fun. I am completely jealous of her site. The next day we met up with Brennan, Molly and Chris to do some hiking. We hiked up some big hill. Despite some initial fears, we were not attacked by cougars ( neither the cats nor the women searching for young men) or by black mambas. The views were spectacular, at points we could see three countries, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The rest of the night was spent designing a paddle bubble/pontoon boat that would allow someone to bike across Lake Victoria, using chapati as frisbees and staring off at Lake Victoria. Then I had the longest, dustiest, bumpiest ride back home ever. Totally worth it.

Thanksgiving is coming up. Not sure what my plans are, due to some new rules PC has decided to enforce. I'm just hoping it involves food.



new items for wishlist:
-gossip mags
-mac and cheese (actually if you want to just send the packet of powdered cheese that would work too)
-Reeses Pieces
-camera memory cards

"Are you American? I love you."

Real question I got the other day

I have lucked out and have electricity at my site. Most of the time. It goes out randomly. Which is not a real problem for me, I usually just use it as my excuse to go to bed (it makes it sound better than saying "I went to bed at 8:00 because I'm tired"). It really worries my family, I live on their compound, about what I do when it goes out. They also worry about what I do for water, cooking, traveling, washing, living, etc. I'm pretty sure they wake up each morning surprised I survived the night. This often leads to them requesting (demanding) that they do stuff for me. I've tried to let them know I'm pretty self-reliant and have thus far been able to survive on my own, they usually just stare at me and start talking in dhluo really fast to each other (which means they don't want me to know what they are talking about.).

Food continues to be an issue with me. My whole day pretty much revolves around it. Thinking about it, making it and/or eating it. I even dream of food. Some people get really vivid nightmares from mephlaquin. I dream of food and peace corps. On a positive note, I have about 10 pounds of groundnuts (peanuts) that different mama's have given me.

I helped set up my first VSLA (Village Savings and Loan) today. It's pretty much a group that gets together and pays shares each meeting (social fund, development fund, shares), money is then loaned out and saved, either for personal use or for group use. Obviously there is more to it than this, but that is the gist of it. Hopefully all will go well, it's with my catering group and they are a pretty driven bunch.

I also have been going to church. Yes, church. A Catholic one. I figure it's good for my rep (also, one of the mama's in my community called me out the 2nd week I was here, wondering why I don't go to church) plus it's a break from my daily routine of: washing, reading, cleaning, washing, sleeping, eating, cleaning, watching movies. And it's near my house so I can walk. It's pretty interesting. For one, it is all in dhluo. Luckily, I've been to mass enough that I can follow along (see family, I do pay attention). Second, they have dancers and the choir does that undulating sound that I think is pretty cool (both things that would definitely liven up any mass). I also tend to attract a crowd, of kids. While this is not abnormal, this is the only place I spend 1 1/2 hours getting poked, touched and smelled. I try to shoo them away, but that just draws attention to my hand, which they then want to hold.

Got to meet with the health center today, hopefully I can get them to let me do my secondary project there. I miss health.

Adjusting to site and other such (in)conveniences

So I made it to site. And there were fireworks. Literally. Though not for me. My first night I went to a funeral and they had fireworks. Please note on the scale of awesomeness, it ranks pretty high. I expect fireworks at my funeral.

It's been awhile, I haven't had access to the internet, so this is a long one.

Some info about my site. According to Peace Corps I live in Kadongo, in Nyanza south of Lake Victoria (googling it does not really provide any information. It's small, I can almost walk across town and hold my breath). My nearest big town is either Sondu or Oyugis, both cost about 50 KSH (less than fifty cents) and take about 30 minutes to get to (less if I wasn't riding in a matatu, which stops every 5 minutes to cram 26 people, goats and chickens into an 11 person van. "Mzungu, you have two Kenyans on your lap" is an actual quote I have heard. Though generally try to draw the line at people sitting on my laps). I actually live in Oriang' (Oh-ree-angwah). Which consists of a Catholic church, one duka (small shop that sells random items) and a boarding school. It's not really a town, more of a collection of houses and said shops/businesses.

I live on the compound of a family here, Baba and Mama Dok. She works north of Lake Victoria during the week and comes home on the weekends. He is retired but sells Mpesa (a phone/money business through cell phones). They have two adult children, the girl lives in Tanzania and the boy has a house on the compound, but does not live there. There is also a family, we share the same building, that lives here (dad, mom and cute little 18 month old daughter), they do my family's house cleaning and cooking. (I do my own chores) My house (well, really it is connected to the outdoor kitchen, a storage shed and the house family's room. So it's more of an apartment?) is small. It was one room, but the Dok's partitioned it off. In total it's about 16' by 16'. But I do have electricity! For now I have running water, we use rain catchment and it's rainy season. Once this ends there is a well outside my door I can pull water from. I also have an indoor toilet! I have to manually pour water to flush, but no more pooping in holes for me!

My job is interesting. I work with four different groups in the area. One makes probiotic yogurt, one makes ceramic jiko's (stoves), one caters events and the other is a self-help group. I'm working with them to help them strengthen their groups, strengthen their businesses and network. All groups have a goal of helping to provide for the orphans and widows in the community (there is a lot of orphans in the area. Mainly due to the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS. Pretty much every group member is raising at least one orphan. Most are children of relatives, but others were found wandering around the market). I'm also working to help organize the groups under one network (Ruwonet), which I hoping to help develop. We'll see, things run in African time around here. Which means, schedules are not really kept, time is not really observed, the PCV spends a lot of time reading while waiting for people to show up for things.

I attended a graduation ceremony this past Monday. I had to give a speech. I did not know anyone graduating and it did not really have a lot to do with my job, but I was invited. I also had to preside over the cake cutting ceremony. It was odd, really cool, but odd.

The area is really cool. It's really green and these beautiful hills are all around. Sweet potato, maize, sugar cane and pineapple are mainly grown, but there are plenty of other veggies and fruits. Guava is a weed here and grows in abundance on the side of the road.

Something else that is in abundance on the side of the road: children. At least they are when they see me coming. I have yet to get one to call me "Cory" they prefer mzungu. Apparently, it is the same in dhluo as it is in kiswahili. I have made one child scream in terror just by walking by him. Score.

I promise to update more often.

Please note, when sending things:
-US Postal Service, while slowest, is the cheapest. Especially the padded envelopes. You can fill those suckers up with a lot of things.
-Write a bunch of religious sayings and bible verses on the package. Less likely to get opened or stolen
-Don't declare anything of value. Feel free to state it is books or such
-Don't send anything that you would not send to your grandmother. I most likely will have to open the package for inspection and Kenya culture is very conservative. I have a reputation to uphold (the weird mzungu who walks everywhere and speaks funny, but still I would rather be the weird mzungu than the possibly shady mzungu)
-Things could take up to 2 months for me to receive, so don't worry if it takes me awhile to confirm that I received anything.

"It makes babies disappear"

So the first picture is of my host brothers and sisters (well two of them are missing). The second one is neighborhood kids. The third one was taken at the safari I went on in Ambeseli. We saw lions. 9 of them. My mama and our guide had never seen lions there before. So, awesome




Quote from PCT.

So today I swear in. Nothing special. Just at the ambassador's house here in Nairobi. With hamburgers and hotdogs. I hope they have enough food. For me.

It's been a long, but good, 10 weeks of training. I've learned how to speak like a 3 year in kiswahili (though have not mastered the high pitched, nasal 'How'a you' quite yet), cook on a jiko, poop in a hole and eat ugali. I've also met some really cool people, both Kenyan and American. But honestly I'm glad training is over, it's been long. (It bears repeating).

We're here in Nairobi and it has been a load of craziness. We met our supervisors for the first time yesterday and got to have more information on what our jobs will be. I don't have time to go into it right now, but mine will be pretty awesome and I am really excited about it. It will be difficult, but I'm Cory. We also have the stress of saying good-bye to those who won't be living near us (it will be three months before we see them again). So we've been having some major media sharing parties, mani-pedi parties and mustache parties (just the guys). Even got some ultimate frisbee in.

Long and Winding Road

Training is winding down, but at the same time getting busier. We have our language test coming up, presentations to give and beer to attend to (ok, so not really the last one, but I'm looking forward to heading out for a drink tonight). Then I will still have to learn Luo (the local language for where I will be living) and still have to pack.

Kenya is pretty amazing so far, I went up, with some others from my group, to Chogoria which is really close to Mt. Kenya. We stayed with a volunteer up there. The views, with the mountains, banana trees and tea plantations was just awesome. Plus watching Carlo chase kids really made me giggle. I know that sounds mean, but until you have a non-stop chorus of "How'a youuuu?" yelled at the same high pitch frequency everyday than you can't judge. Seriously, the kids are annoying.

We also got to stay two nights in Nairobi, one on the way there and one on the way back. Which allowed me to see the last Harry Potter. I'm not going to spoil it, but it's not as good as the book. We did get to eat at an awesome Indian restaurant.

So far I've gone against PC tradition and have lost weight. Not really sure how, pretty much all they eat here is carbs. Maybe it is the increase in walking. Or lack of fast food, alcohol and my now semi-vegetarian diet (still can't stomach most of the meat).

It feels kind of odd that in less than a month I will be living in yet another part of Kenya and will actually be doing "real" work. Also, will not have 51 other Mzungus (wazungu)around. But I've got some pretty cool people that will be living near me, so all good. Our Mzungu migrations will just be smaller.

Here are two things I've learned about Kenyans: they love TV novellas and Celine Dion. Oh, and I'm still covered in dust.

It's been a month already?

Wow, so I am one lazy person. I have been here in Kenya and this is my first update. While I could try and blame this on the fact that I do not have internet,but there is an internet cafe in town. I'm just lazy.

So, obviously I made it to Kenya in one piece. After the long plane ride we arrived in Nairobi at around midnight. We stayed there for a couple of nights before going to Loitokitok, where are training is located. Loitokitok is at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro (obviously on the Kenya side). I have a couple of words that describe Loitokitok: pretty, hilly, dusty and very dusty. Still not sure if I have a tan line on my feet or it's from the dust. This stuff does not seem to wash off.

My host family is great, I have 6 siblings. My normal day consists of: chai, bread, language class, lunch, chai, technical class, chai, bread, dinner, chai.

I am going to try and be better at updating this, so I will try to come back a bit later. Chai time

Um, I'm going where?

In 74 hours I will be in Philadelphia. In 120 hours (less time than that hiker Aron spent trapped between a rock and a hard place), or in about 5 days I will be on a plane to Kenya. To say I haven't had some "What am I doing" moments would be a lie. I'm sitting here in a Starbucks across from some douc...odd guy with bleached hair, red tips and a batman symbol tattoo (he really plays no part of this story, I just think he is ridiculous. Nay, ridonkulous) it keeps hitting me at this time next week I will be in Kenya.

I started my packing last night. It looks like I will be doing really good on space. My problem might just be weight. I have books (gulp) that I can take out if need be. I will probably end up not using half the stuff. but you never know.

So I am leaving soon, it seems odd that I went from a berry farm to New York City, back to berry farm and am now going to Kenya. Where am I going to go next that won't be similar to anyplace else I've ever lived. I fear at some point the only option I will have will be Antarctica.

17 Days to Go!

In just a little over two weeks I will be on a plane to Philly for a two night stay before leaving for Kenya. Two weeks is not a long time. I have so much left to do. Such as getting my parent's psycho cat, Louie, to like me, or at least not attack me every time I walk by him. I tried to sweeten him up with tuna last night. He just glared at me. I also have some stuff to pack. By some stuff I mean everything. I pretty much have most of my items that I want to bring so that is not a huge issue, it's just getting everything together and then freaking out that I am forgetting something.

I've been neglecting my kiSwahili the past couple of weeks, but have decided to brush up on some words that I think will help me. So I looked up snake today. Just in case I come face to face with one I can at least shout it's swahili name before it bites me. Tomorrow, I will learn "the lion is chasing me."

In the middle of reading "Bossypants" by Tina Fey. I am really going to miss 30 Rock.

Is this a dry on run for Kenya?

So it's been storming like crazy here in Arkansas (and all over the south) for the past three days. Every afternoon for the past three days I have turned on the radio to listen to some (mediocre) tunes. I can't get through a whole (crappy) song without the national weather service beeping. Luckily for my family we have been lucky and have not, really, been affected by the weather. Sadly, many communities around us were not so lucky.

We did not get totally away unscathed. A branch crashed down on our power line. Thus, we lost power. Monday night. So far it has not been found again. Living without electricity is not the worst, I have now been able to get through a lot of my books. But since we have a well, which runs on electricity, we do not have water. Now I know what you guys are thinking. Stop complaining, whiner, this is what you will probably have to deal with in Kenya. True. And I'm not whining. I'm not in Kenya yet, and this totally screws with my whole way of living I've been doing. Mainly, the line of thought "hey, I'm going to be in Africa for two years, they may not have this, I might not be able to do this in Africa, I better eat this because I may never have it again." I expected a short stint in eden before going to Kenya.

Here's to hoping the electricity will get turned on back on by Friday. If not, does anyone (with electricity) want a houseguest for awhile?

It seems to be the popular thing to do

So it's only 42 days until I start this Peace Corps thing. It seems like a long time away, but it won't feel that way. I've only been in Arkansas for a month and it seems like about 2 weeks since I moved back in with my parents. I am having to start to come to terms with some of the changes that I will have to make. Yes, I've had to make some changes in terms of moving back home and moving away from NYC. (Do you realize that things in Arkansas close at 10? Do you know how much time I apparently spent online in NYC and how apparent that is when your parents do not have internet? Bagels. Dunkin' Donuts, Shipley's and Daytime Donuts do not know real bagels). Moving to Kenya will be a big change, so some things that I think I will miss:

-Cheese. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE cheese.
-A fan to sleep with. I'm trying to wean myself off of sleeping with a fan. This has been a habit of mine forever, I'm trying to figure out a way to fall asleep without it. I probably will not have the electricity to do this.
-sushi (though to be honest, I am already missing that. Landlocked states are not really known for their good seafood)
-Eating. Let me be specific, if I crave something I can easily hop in the car and go get it (with the already previously noted bagels not included).

eh

I am writing this while sitting at the airport, waiting for my plane to take me back to Arkansas. Unlike my previous trips home over the course of the years, this time I am not coming back. As my cab was careening towards, what I was certain of at the time, sudden death, I got a good view of Manhattan. It kinda made me sad. In a way I don't want to leave.
There are so many things I haven't done! It can't be time for me to leave. I never had tea at the Ritz. I never went to a Knicks game. No La Bernadin, no kayaking the Hudson. My mind knows that I can always come back and do all of these things and more. It's always there to do. But I don't think I will. New York was fun and I had a blast, but I am done with it. Let others have their fun.

I am off for bigger and better things. First up, surviving the wilds of Lonoke, AR.

That was obviously written a little over a week ago. It was not posted until now because my parents don't believe that getting the internet at home would be beneficial. Since that time I have survived the first week of Lonoke, attend the 40th anniversary of University of Arkansas rugby, and watched hours of Yo Gabba Gabba. Only one of those things I did under my own free will (hint: it does not involve a farm or toys that come to life). So now I'm in Kenya mode. Well, not really. So far my preparation has been buying a skirt and two shirts, trying on my Chacos and deciding if I want to bring a halloween costume. I'm sure I will get more into it the closer it comes.

Also there was a huge bull in our yard this morning.

Where did this come from??!?

I moved to NYC with, literally, 2 bags and a backpack. For the life of me, I do not know where everything else came from. The DVD's I understand. I bought those. I think everything else just reproduced. I left it in my closet or in boxes and it multiplied. There is really no other explanation. Trying to move has meant numerous visits to the post office and UPS. Keep in mind I have a large pile of donations to give, so the things left in my apartment that are not for sale or donation had to come from somewhere. I just don't know where.

I hate moving. I hate 3rd floor walk-ups.